Wednesday, August 2, 2017

“Knowing God” by Brian Johnston

The Twenty-third
Psalm is perhaps the best known psalm in the Bible. It’s a beautiful and moving
psalm in any translation, but the language of the King James Version is hard to
surpass. The rhythm and cadence of the words that begin “The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want” are unforgettable.

This psalm of
David, Brian Johnston tells us in Knowing God: Reflections on Psalm 23, is also
an intensely personal psalm – for God. The “Lord” of the first line is God’s
personal name, Yahweh, the name the Jews considered so sacred that that
wouldn’t speak it and in writing left out the vowels – YHWH. And it is this
personal God to whom David repeatedly refers as the psalm unfolds; in fact,
this psalm is not about David’s (or our own) trials and tribulations but about
God.

Johnston uses
the framework to describe God’s attributes as revealed in the other names he’s
known by in the Bible – the provider, the healer, the banner, the sanctifier,
peace, our righteousness, the Lord who is there, and the shepherd. David knew
all of these attributes of God, and he especially knew the role of shepherd,
having been one himself.

The way God
declares his name to us, Johnston says, “makes His character known to us.” And
so each of the statements of God are discussed and reflected upon in the
succeeding chapters.

Knowing God can easily be used as a devotional or
for meditation. Johnston writes in a simple, easy-to-understand style, which
makes the narrative a moving, straightforward one. It’s a short read, and more
than worth the time required to read it.

1 comment:

My husband loves Keller's work on Psalm 23, so I wonder if he's enjoy this as well. I'm intrigued by Johnston's choice of a title because of J.I. Packer's classic by the same name.Thanks for this introduction!

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Professional writer exploring faith and culture, life and work; happily married to Janet, the love of my life; father of two grown sons. Award-winning speechwriter and communication consultant. I am an editor for TweetSpeak Poetry and the author of the novels "Dancing Priest," "A Light Shining," and "Dancing King," and the non-fiction book "Poetry at Work."